Yitzhak

As with last week...this episode spent a lot of time talking about something that would make a far more interesting storyline that the one we are seeing right now. That story being that there is an actual purpose and consequence to Stiles's accidental (even self-defense feels like inaccurate phrasing) killing of Donovan. Last week the Sheriff said he'd destroy evidence to protect Stiles for being wrongfully convicted for murder and Scott expressed regret that after all their violent battles it's the non-fighting human member of the gang who has to deal with blood on their hands. If the gang didn't have stupid Beasts, stupid Dread Doctors and stupid Theo to deal with then there could've been a great storyline with Stiles getting arrested for suspected murder - just to see The Sheriff and Scott struggle with how to save Stiles from a prison sentence while still trying to keep the supernatural a secret. Well, actually I always thought that would've been an interesting story to do post S-3B. This season, it really no sense to me that Stiles is so traumatized over the accidental death of one monster who was trying to eat him. Yet we never saw him traumatized and wracked with guilt over his Nogistune possession which resulted in many people being killed, including his friend Alison. Priorities seem a bit warped, don't they? Let me know if anyone has ever done a (non-Sterek) fanfiction version of this story.

A new promo for the S5a finale...with an out of the blue reference to "Void Stiles". http://notanotherteenwolfpodcast.com/post/127017979630/teenwolf-the-summer-finale-of-teen-wolf-will I don't get it. Has Theo been pushing Stiles towards murders because he thinks he can turn him back into his Void self? How's that supposed to work? When Stiles was Void, he wasn't himself. He was possessed. Or does Theo have plans for Stiles to visit the Dread Doctors and have them turn him Void again? Dunno. But hey, why not...bring back Evil Stiles anytime. Also weird is how it always seemed like Theo was trying to take Stiles role in the pack...but apparently he wants to replace Scott?

Pacifism is supposed to mean opposition to violence. Scott obviously isn't anti-violence, he fights people with his super werewolf strength all the time. In any one of those fights he might kill someone (not that the writers would have it happen). It doesn't have to be deliberate. Stiles killed someone when he was just trying to get away, nevermind fighting back. It's silly to suggest that when engaging in violent combat all the time you run no risk of killing your opponent.

I had actually been interested in the prospect of a Scott/Stiles break up but I'm disappointed that it hinged on the illogical contrivance of Stiles not explaining that it was self-defense and Scott not voicing the actual accusation he'd heard from Theo. Stiles didn't even use the wrench; he yanked some scaffolding down when he had a psychotic monster trying to eat his legs. And why throw in the "He was going to kill my dad!" reasoning like it was motivated and pre-meditated? It wasn't. Why would Stiles make himself seem more guilty than he was? This moment could have been much stronger if it hadn't relied upon a manufactured misunderstanding. There's two other ways it could have gone. One they could have had Stiles protesting that it was self-defense and still have Scott recoiling and doubting Stiles because his best friend has lied to him. It could have worked for Stiles's lying to cause the rift more so than Stiles defending himself against an attack. The other way it might have gone is that they could've really had Stiles killing Donovan to defend his dad. I guess TW wouldn't have the guts to go there but I think Stiles probably is capable of killing someone who seriously threatened his father. And if Stiles is going to be all guilt-ridden about killing someone directly and on purpose (which he didn't) then at least give us a storyline where Stiles actually does directly kill someone on purpose. It'd be preferable to all this victim-blaming of Stiles. Well, I still don't get why Stiles is victim-blaming himself. I feel like they could be exploring some interesting Stiles psychology here, with the accusations of his mad dying mother and hey, why not remember that the whole Stiles nogitsune experience happened? There is a basis for Stiles having an irrational response here, but they are wasting opportunities to portray it with clarity by tying it in with Stiles's past traumas. Then maybe they could have had another storyline where Scott lets a monster go free and...they go onto kill someone! Why does Scott never suffer any consequences for this? Stop with the simplified message of "You can't ever kill anyone, ever. Not even a psychotic monster trying to eat your legs. You must find a way to save the psychotic monster trying to eat your legs!". Which is a lot easier to say when you have alpha werewolf strength to subdue your attackers with. I liked Stiles's "Some of us are human!" line, except that...it was said as though Stiles being human simply made him morally flawed. No, being human means Stiles is the most physically vulnerable member of the pack and yet in all this time Scott has never really considered how Stiles is meant to defend himself against monsters with super strength. If Stiles is getting attacked he is not going to heal like Scott and the other werewolves. He could die. And surely if Stiles was in danger of dying then Scott would prefer his best friend to fight back in any way he can. Not really sure what the point was of Theo fake confessing to Stilinski. Only that I feel robbed of another potentially good storyline where the Sheriff gets slipped the same info that Stiles killed Donovan and we get the long awaited "the Sheriff has to arrest his own son" storyline. I'll admit I was kinda rooting for S5a to end with Stiles in jail after a Will Graham style frame job. Theo needed to do a much better job of making Stiles look like a psycho though.

Really? Aww. I can't begrudge Dylan sticking with TW for O'Brosey reasons.

Bizarre spin on Stiles's "shameful" and "shocking" act of "murder" by MTV. Teen Wolf Shocker: Stiles Just Committed the Unthinkable Do they really think we are viewing Stiles as an untrustworthy criminal now?

Exactly. Scott is not a pacifist. We see Scott use violence against his enemies and attackers in most episodes of Teen Wolf. What if Scott hit someone in a fight and they were hurled against something sharp, impaling them? The writers could have had Scott accidentally killing someone in a violent struggle a dozen times already. It's something the writers have spared Scott. But unless Scott abstains from all violence and avoids all danger I don't think Scott can preach that he'll never do the exact thing Stiles did. Okay...am I missing something? So the police arrive at the school library less than 10 minutes after Stiles called 911. Not only is the body gone, but all the blood (but for one drop) is gone too and the smashed library shelf and fallen scaffolding seems magically repaired. I've missed a few episodes but...have we seen any further superpowers from Parrish suggesting he can clean up a crime scene at lightning speed? And if we are to assume Parrish was at the scene - why would he not help Stiles? Surely it must be Theo and the Doctors who did the magical clean up job since Theo was the one who sent Donovan after Stiles. In that case, can we assume Parrish is already under the Doctor's power? How did Theo and the Doctors do the clean up so fast for that matter? I'd speculate that Stiles hallucinated the whole thing (maybe drugged by the bite in his shoulder) if it weren't for that scene showing Parrish with Donovan's dead body. And that Stiles still has the scaffolding pin.

I wouldn't say it is inexplicable or out of character for Stiles to lie (see...every episode of TW so far). Stiles has always been in favor of lying and keeping secrets, even from people he cares about like his dad and Malia. I think it's understandable that Stiles would have kept this from Scott, not only because of Scott's stance on killing, but because Stiles is still trying to figure out what happened to the body and is busy conducting his own Theo-mistrusting investigation separate to Scott. I do agree that the guilt Stiles is suffering with feels imposed by the writers. Sure I think Stiles would be shaken up, but not reproaching himself. Forgot that scene but...yeah. Exactly.

I haven't really been following TW S05 so far but I was drawn in by this episode and its potential to kickstart a great storyline. Or at least I was captivated by the first 10 minutes before TW returned to its usual contrived tedious nonsense. I've been very bored of TW's repetitive use of cold opens in which anonymous teenagers are attacked by monsters. So it was a refreshing change to see an episode open with a main character who we actually care about on their own and in jeopardy. While there would obviously be no killing of Stiles it was again - REFRESHING to have to the consequences of Stiles having killed in self-defense and having to deal with a corpse. At first I really wanted to see Stiles cleaning up the gory scene and then taking Donovan's body off to bury in the woods. But then we had Stiles (still in shock) irrationally calling 911 and it felt like there was a chance for an even better storyline - Stiles being found by police at the scene where a boy (who had publicly threatened his father) is dead following a violent struggle. Without being able to explain the supernatural circumstances, Stiles could be suspected of outright murder, not self-defense. Especially if Theo whipped up some false evidence to suggest that Stiles was on the attack not Donovan. And if Dylan O'Brian could have continued to be entirely mute and traumatized during all of this, that would've made for a standout episode too. But no. Parrish took the damn body. I guess it's been suggested that he's burning the bodies to destroy evidence of the supernatural world? I guess he's actually using Phoenixy powers to bring the dead kids back to life, right? (Ugh. I hate Parrish. Parrish actually makes me yearn to have Derek back and Derek was my least favourite character). Anyway. My fear now is that the issue of Stiles having killed Donovan (in blatant self defense), this issue that is clearly going to cause the upcoming Scott/Stiles rift - will eventually be undone because Parrish will use his powers to bring Donovan back to life. Which....UGH, I hope not. I badly want Donovan to stay dead and I want Scott to accept that there is such a thing as justifiable homicide. In S4 the writers wimped out on their hints that Scott might have to kill someone, simply by avoiding putting Scott in a situation where he must kill in self-defense or defense of his pack. That said, having Stiles be the one to kill is more fitting because Stiles has always been more willing to kill a dangerous monster for the greater good - Peter, Jackson, even himself when he was possessed. It could be a good development to have Stiles be the one to shift Scott's blind instance that they must not kill under any circumstances, self-defense included. What worries me is that the writers seem to be on Scott's side and desperate to keep the McCall pack pure - hence my fear that Stiles killing Donovan will be unwritten because the writers don't want blood (permanently) on Stiles hands. Despite the fact that Stiles was the victim of a violent attack and should not be vilified for having defended himself. And yeah, as Saruka noted...looks like they may be unwriting Malia killing her family too. So yeah, in conclusion - this is a potentially good storyline which will most likely be wasted. Let me know if any half-decent fanfic writers make better use of it. Also, may I ask - what is Dylan O'Brien still doing on this show? I'm getting kind of annoyed with this kid for wasting his time on TW when he's clearly got the talent (and following Maze Runner, the box office appeal) to leave the show for better things.

While I agree that it's good to see Glee placing Chris Colfer firmly back in the male lead role (at least in terms of storytelling, not song distribution) I feel increasingly infuriated with the way Kurt is being vilified for his reasonable objections to marrying young. Why is Ryan Murphy so fixated with teen marriage anyway? - first Finn/Rachel, then Kurt/Blaine and now Santana/Brittany. While I know some high school sweethearts can make their relationships last long term, a lot of times they don't and surely it's better to hold off marriage till you know for sure? Especially if you're a couple like Kurt and Blaine who has struggled with simply living together, not to mention that Blaine has shown he'll resort to cheating on Kurt when things get rough. Kurt's opinion that people shouldn't get married till they're thirty is perfectly valid and while it may not be Kurt's place to push his (reasonable!) opinion on other couples, I'm grossed out by the writers seeming insistence that Kurt needs to be proved wrong. I was already grossed out that they used Burt and Kurt's dead mom to emotionally blackmail Kurt into accepting Blaine's big steamrolling proposal in the first place. Now it's being implied that Kurt is the one with problems that he needs to overcome. First Kurt not wanting to get married young is a symptom of Kurt's "intimacy issues". Now, through Santana's rant. we are being told that Kurt lost Blaine because he is judgemental and insufferable. Nevermind that Kurt was the one who dumped Blaine (both times they broke up). From where I'm standing, Kurt's biggest problem is his inability to move on from an overbearing emotionally manipulative boyfriend who he would be much better off without. But the writers seemingly have no interest in exploring Blaine's faults as a partner. This whole thing with Karofsky...there is no way of looking at that relationship that doesn't make Blaine look bad. If Blaine does have genuine feelings for Dave, then it suggests his trumped up true love/soul mates feelings for Kurt were all shallow platitudes and that all Blaine really wanted was any guy who idolizes him, props up his ego and is willing to dive into this domestic bliss fantasy that Blaine is so hung up on. If Blaine doesn't have feelings for Dave and is using a guy with a history of serious psychological problems as a weapon against Kurt, then that's even more screwed up. Since Blaine already knows Kurt wants to get back together, it can no longer be said that Blaine is merely using Dave to get Kurt's attention and make him jealous, but more insidiously that Blaine is using his relationship with Dave to spite and punish Kurt. The way the writers are glossing over Kurt's own dark history with Dave Karofsky is also troubling. But I get the feeling Blaine is not going to be questioned for his actions at all and the onus will be solely on Kurt to earn Blaine's forgiveness (!?!) and learn the error of his ways. The bottom line being that - with this Klaine ship - Glee is actively encouraging young people to stay in unhappy, unhealthy and even emotionally abusive relationships. Okay so we had Brit suggesting Kurt move on, but not because Kurt/Blaine were a bad couple but simply so Kurt doesn't look like a loser.

Posey and Dylan were real teenagers when they started on the show, but they were 18 playing characters who were 16. Still much younger than Crystal who was in her late 20s. I think Sprayberry is the first kid who's exactly the same age as his character, but ironically looks older, especially with the new bulk.

Yup, the one real 16 year old they had on the show. Only now he looks like he's in his mid to late 20s.

There's some alarming photos emerging of Sprayberry's new look. This level of body building doesn't seem healthy for a 16 year old kid. I don't think it suits him either. I wonder why they want Liam so bulked up for S5? http://notanotherteenwolfpodcast.com/post/107445867125/roninmma-this-warewolf-coming-back-with-a I know that Hoechlin gained a lot of muscle in S2 when Derek was the alpha, but I thought they'd want to keep Liam little and boyish. Especially when Posey, the current alpha werewolf, is pretty skinny these days.

For anyone who is missing the TW blooper reels, here's a link to the Maze Runner bloopers... ...which (as you might expect) are 90% Dylan being goofy.

Great post, jessied. Personally I never assumed Stiles must be bisexual. IMO the so-called "hints" could just as easily be read as a hetero teenage boy who is queer friendly and bi-curious. I think the only possible queer pairings we could have in S5 (and Jeff has reportedly said there will be more queer rep in S5) are... Mason/Brett = The most predictable likely option. Basically Danny/Ethan 2.0 where we'll see a token gay human paired up with a werewolf hunk. Both secondary characters so there would be very minimal focus on the ship. Stiles/Danny = If Danny returns, this could still be a possibility and one I'd love to see because the Stiles/Danny moments have always been golden. However if it did happen, I think it'd just be a fun bit of experimentation. Stiles can be bi and still end up with Lydia or Malia. And honestly if Jeff wants to make Stiles canon!bi he shouldn't change his plans just because shippers will tantrum over Stiles hooking up with a boy who isn't Derek. Scott/Issac = If Issac returns (which is sounding likely) I still think they could go there. Unlike Sterek, Jeff seems to have purposefully written Scissac as a "slash this!" pairing. In canon, an unrequited crush on Issac's part is more likely. Peter/Valack = Why is nobody discussing this possibility? They're sharing a cell with one bed. I can already seeing them being written as Jeff's own version of Hannigram. Kira/Malia = If they ever want to explore female bisexuality with lead characters (which I doubt) I'm guessing this would be the writers femmeslash pairing of choice.